LONG BLOG

The next generation of hardware is coming. I'm only going to talk about WiiU. Why? I have zero interest in what Microsoft is cooking up and I'm moderately related to Sony, so I can't talk about them for fear of risking my job. So….only Nintendo it is. Maybe some bits of what I hope everyone is going to be doing as well.

I recently got to attend a WiiU experience event at San Diego ComicCon, so luckily I'm no longer firing blind. I have a bit of hands on knowledge with the WiiU. I liked quite a bit of what it has to offer and was pleasantly surprised by what they had on display. I'm generally excited for the WiiU. Here's simply my pie in the sky wish list:

HD upscaling for Wii games:

Simple right? I've seen the amazing things people are doing with the Dolphin emulator. It would be great to bust out my Wii games on the new hardware and see them looking crisp and clear on an HD screen. That is all.

Don't allow for a WiiU list:

Ahhh, the dreaded list of a Wii fan. Knowing my audience I know we've all seen one of these before. This is the list of games people come up with whenever someone slags off the Wii. Hell, my list is probably 30 titles long by now.

Wait, you mean there's 30+ good games for the Wii? Yes, maybe a few more. Here's the problem with the list: It exists because it is easy to name every good game on the Wii and hard to ignore all of the digital fecal matter also available. The Wii's library is 90% garbage, shovelware, shoddy ports and other various detritus. Maybe more. Nintendo needs to be more selective about who they give a license to. I think the biggest risk of becoming a crap catalog is inside the eShop. Nintendo completely fucked their DSi shop by loading it with the bottom of the barrel of mobile games and they need to make sure the same does not happen for the eShop on WiiU (or 3DS for that matter).

Support Indies, Support Alternative Business models:

In game purchases, out of game purchases, curated web stores, F2P, subscriptions, episodes, web page links for eShop purchases, etc. Open the number of business models developers can use to sell their product. Also, actively seek out incredible independent developers and help them bring their product to market on your console. Don't make them get an office. Offices get you Chicken Shoot and Ninjabread Man and make you miss out on games like Lone Survivor and Super Meat Boy.

Nintendo of America needs to change

Nintendo of America is crappy at their job. Knowing the little I do about the video game business, I don't know what's holding them back. They only seem capable of bringing out the most mainstream of new Nintendo IPs and the most popular of Nintendo's franchises. Are their resources so stretched they are unable to publish already translated JRPGs with heavy demand? Is their reward structure so fucked it would harm Reggie's bank account if every game they sell doesn't break a million copies? Does NoJ undercut the resources they need to continue to satisfy videogames' core and expanded userbase?

Somethings not right at NoA. NoE is at least capable of knowing what their core contingent is interested in and localizing and publishing the niche Japanese games with the greatest demand. Nintendo of America may be trying to be the Disney of the late 90's, holding on to their Family Friendly™ image to the detriment of their business. I don't know what's wrong at NoA, but something needs to change. I need to know I will be getting the full spectrum of Nintendo entertainment from Nintendo of America and not just the stuff appropriate for ages 8-80.